1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to notebook accessories and, more particularly, to a writing platform apparatus and method for a looseleaf notebook for elevating pages within the notebook.
2. The Prior Art
Notebooks of various looseleaf varieties have been known for decades. These notebooks are used for numerous purposes although the primary purpose, as the name "notebook" implies, is that of recording handwritten notes. One especially popular form of looseleaf notebook is a personal calendar/notebook combination commonly referred to as a "day planner". The usual format for a day planner is that it includes a separate page for each day of the year with each page segregated into hourly blocks along with an area for notes, reminders, expenditures, and the like. A separate section of the day planner includes a series of alphabetically arranged pages for use as a directory.
Clearly, the inherent value of such a looseleaf notebook is through regular usage by the owner. This means that the person using the looseleaf notebook should write in the notebook on a regular basis. However, it is well known that a notebook with a substantial number of pages represents a difficult writing surface due to the nature of the looseleaf notebook. In particular, the pages held by the ring binder will vary greatly in thickness depending upon which page is to be written upon and also which side of the particular page is being used. These problems are particularly exacerbated by the fact that day planners are specifically configured to be as compact as possible for purposes of handling convenience. The result is that considerable distortion of the pages is encountered making writing on them particularly awkward. Further, depending upon which side of the page is being written upon and the thickness of the total number of pages underneath this particular page, writing in a notebook is quite cumbersome to the extent that many people become discouraged and do not write in the day planner as much as they should.
However, perhaps the most serious difficulty is encountered when the writer must place his or her writing hand across the rings of the ring binder of the notebook. This is particularly troublesome for persons who write left handed on the right side of the notebook because of the nature of the hand position assumed while writing. Customarily, the left-handed person holds the writing hand above the area being written upon with the fingers holding the writing implement being curved downwardly toward the wrist. This writing position is adopted to enable the writer to be able to visually observe what is being written. In other words, the left-handed writer writes on a page from above which means that the forearm and wrist, at the minimum, are forced to contend with the ring binder while writing on the right side of the page. Correspondingly, the person writing with the right hand on the left side of the notebook encounters the ring binder with the right hand as the page is written on from left to right. This means that a person writing close to the ring binder encounters interference with the right side of the right hand prior to the writing implement being brought into proximity with the ring binder.
An alternative solution to these problems is to remove the particular page from the notebook and place it upon a separate writing surface for writing. This is awkward particularly if no suitable writing surface is conveniently available. Further, opening the looseleaf binder to remove a specific page to be written upon momentarily releases the remaining pages so that they can become loose and even fall out of the notebook. Accordingly, a person who uses the day planner on a consistent basis is required to write on pages that are not adequately supported on a suitable writing surface.
In view of the foregoing it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide a writing surface for pages in a looseleaf notebook. It would also be an advancement in the art to provide a support surface for pages of a looseleaf notebook whereby the support surface can be elevated to at least one of a plurality of elevated positions to support pages to be written upon and lowered into a flat, relatively unobtrusive position for storage. Such a novel apparatus and method is disclosed and claimed herein.